“The following is a direct script of a teaching that is intended to be presented via video, incorporating relevant text, slides,

media, and graphics to assist in illustration, thus facilitating the presentation of the material. In some places, this may cause

the written material to not flow or sound rather awkward in some places. In addition, there may be grammatical errors that

are often not acceptable in literary work. We encourage the viewing of the video teachings to complement the written

teaching you see below.”

The Sabbath Day

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither

you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the

alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and

all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day

and made it holy.

The Sabbath Day

It’s interesting to note that it’s the only day of the week that the Father gives a name to, the Sabbath.

So, how do we observe the Sabbath? Does it even apply still? We actually want to start this teaching off

with this one question. Does the Sabbath still apply today? Many hold to and believe that the Sabbath

was changed to Sunday. So let’s start there. This is a HOT topic for many. So let’s examine the

Scriptures and see what we come up with. We must remember that the Bereans tested EVERYTHING

that Paul said, to the Scriptures. ...

Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the

message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was

true.

So we see that everything Paul said HAD to line up with the Scriptures. So then, what was considered

the scriptures in the New Testament? The Old Testament.

Thus, everything in the New Testament had to line up in agreement with the Old Testament. The Old

Testament was the foundation upon which the New Testament was written upon.

The verses that many reference regarding the Sabbath are in Acts. Chapters 13, 16, and 17 are all

references to the actual Sabbath day, the 7th day of the week.

Yet Acts 20:7 is a verse that many use to defend for using Sunday as the “new” Sabbath. So let’s briefly

examine it. But for the purpose of context, let’s add the verse before it. This way we get a clear picture

of what is going on.

Acts 20:6-7 But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the

others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week we came together to

break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on

talking until midnight.

Verse 7 states, in the English, that the apostles came together on the first day of the week, thus implying

to many that the Sabbath is now on the first day of the week

Since this verse is used to defend Sunday for the new Sabbath day, let’s look at the Greek verse, where

verse 7 says “first day of the week”. The Greek says, actually...

mia ton sabbaton

The Greek word mia means “one,” not “first” ... it is the Greek word ‘protos’ that means “first,” which

is not present in the text ... we cannot make it say something that it does not ...

It actually translates as “one of the Sabbaths”. Plural. Not “First day of the week”. Singular. The word

‘day’ does not even exist in the Greek, making it all the more difficult to understand the translation

being “first DAY of the week”.

This is a huge translation error that has been openly accepted as truth over the years. (Also check the

written teaching on our website “Was the Sabbath Changed to Sunday?,” as it may have some other

verses and thoughts to consider.)

But what does “one of the Sabbaths” actually mean? This is why the context of the previous verse is so

crucial. Verse 6 mentions the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Unless one acknowledges the Feast days that

the Lord gave us, it is easily read over. So why is the mention of this feast day important? Compare ...

Leviticus 23:4-6 4

“‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their

appointed times: 5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first

month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for

seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ...

... And now to verse 15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off

seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present

an offering of new grain to the LORD.

Now, notice how in Acts 20:6 the Feast of Unleavened Bread is mentioned. So what were they doing in

verse 7? They were counting the Sabbath weeks. They were at one of the Sabbaths in their counting.

So what was the big deal that the Lord wanted us to count off 7 Sabbaths or weeks? Because the day

after the 7th Sabbath is Shavuot. That’s Hebrew for the Greek word we know as “Pentecost”. That’s

why the Day of Pentecost is always 50 days after the resurrection of Christ.

What is so significant about the day of Pentecost? Of course every Christian believer will say the

Second Chapter of Acts is when the Holy Spirit came down. And that is true. However, is that all? If

that was all, then why were there Jews, from all over, in Jerusalem on that day, in the Second Chapter of

Acts? Could it be they were observing the command as given by the Lord in Leviticus 23:16? Yes. It

was.

But what was so significant about this day to the Lord, before the Second Chapter of Acts? What did it

represent? It’s the same day that Moses brought the Law down from Matthew Sinai. Thus, the same day

that Moses brought the law down was the same day the lord brought the Spirit down to put the Law in

our hearts.

So in Acts 20, they were actually keeping the Sabbath as the Sabbath, and not the first day of the week,

which many try to say. But when looking at the original Greek and the history of what God desires for

us … it’s just not there.

This actually ties with another verse in 1 Corinthians 16.

1 Corinthians 16:2-3 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping

with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then,

when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your

gift to Jerusalem.

The wording here in the Greek is very similar to that in Acts 20. This verse, here in 1 Corinthians,

parallels the taking up an offering to be taken up to Jerusalem on Pentecost (or Shavuot in the Hebrew)

How do we know this? Compare ...

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will

choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No

man should appear before the LORD empty-handed:

(It was also called the Feast of Weeks because of the counting of the weeks.)

Paul was instructing them on a command given in the Old Testament.

The church today misses SO much because it has over looked the Old Testament as just good stories to

learn from, and not as the basis of what the New Testament was truly established on.

Some also refer to Galatians 4 ...

Galatians 4:8-10 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

9

But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning

back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over

again? 10

You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

Verse 10 here does not represent the Sabbath or the feasts of God. And this is why... These were

Gentiles who NEVER observed God’s ways. See how verse 8 shows they did not know God at one time.

Now look at verse 9. It says that they are turning BACK. Back to what? Back to their pagan

celebrations. One who was not observing God’s ways cannot turn BACK to His ways. Because they

were never in His ways to turn back to them. Verse 8 clearly shows they were serving OTHER gods.

They basically observed the law as a check-list, if you will. So once they did their “duty” to God, they

began observing that which they did before they came to God ... Their pagan practices.

It was much like a “Once saved, always saved” perspective. They believed if they did their obligation to

God, they could observe their other practices.

The problem with the Galatians is that they had jumped out of one ditch, only to land in another. They

were trying to RELY on observing things in the Law of God FOR their salvation. In so doing, they were

following the same principle of doing something FOR their salvation which was the exact same as what

their pagan practices did. It was the principles of having to do something to earn their salvation.

Again, the Galatians were trying to be saved BY the law. This is an impossibility. NO ONE CAN BE

SAVED BY OBSERVING THE LAW. Please understand that. NO ONE CAN BE SAVED BY

OBSERVING THE LAW. You don’t follow the law to be saved. You follow it because you are saved.

Obeying the law is the fruit of your salvation. Not the root of your salvation.

Compare a little farther down in Galatians...

Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away

from grace.

One CANNOT be saved by their works. But rather we are saved and then our works PROVE our

salvation. BUT THE WORKS DO NOT SAVE YOU.

There is no redemptive value in keeping the law. Meaning ... keeping the law cannot redeem you. That

is only found in Christ.

However, once in Christ, we pursue obedience in the law as Christ exemplified for us. As 1 John says...

1 John 2:6 whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Many also refer to Romans 14:5 in saying that we no longer need to observe the Sabbath. This verse

needs to be read with verse 6 for context. It’s actually referring to when people were fasting. Some held

that fasting on certain days meant more than others and some believed that fasting on one day or any day

was just the same.

Romans 14:5-6 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.

Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so

to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains,

does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

The topic surrounding verse 5 and 6 here is food in general. This always brings up the dietary

instructions given in the law. If you have questions on that, please see our teachings “Acts 10 - Peter’s

Vision,” and “1 Timothy 4 - Are All Things Now Considered Food?”

But how can anyone say that this verse, or any verse for that matter, declares that we no longer need to

observe the Sabbath? The word “Sabbath” isn’t even mentioned here in this text.

Where is it declared by God that the Sabbath no longer applies. Seriously. Where does God say “You

no longer need to observe my Sabbath.”? Where can such an instruction be found?

It can’t be. Most all the verses that people use to defend their belief that the Sabbath no longer applies

are words spoken by Paul. Let us not forget, as mentioned at the beginning of this teaching, that

everything Paul said HAD to be in agreement with the the Old Testament. The Tanakh. For that was

what the Bereans tested Paul to.

So then, should we NOW say that Paul is contradicting the Old Testament, OR that Paul’s words have

been twisted down through the ages?

Please compare...

2 Peter 3:15-17 15

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote

you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in

them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant

and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17

Therefore,

dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away

by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

As we continue in this study, please remember that Paul never contradicted the Word of God. But rather

we will see that Paul’s words have been distorted by the error of lawless men.

Many refer also to Colossians, Chapter 2 to show that the Sabbath can now be any day.

Colossians 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Many use this in saying “See? You don’t have to let someone judge you because you’re not following

the Sabbath on Saturday now. Now it’s all about following Christ.”

But this verse is actually Paul encouraging the believers to not let people judge them because they ARE

observing the right day as found in the instructions of the Lord.

We must not forget the instructions of Paul just 8 verses before...

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends

on HUMAN tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

The instructions of the Lord are not even close to being hollow and deceptive philosophy, which

depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world.

Along those same lines, compare what he says in verses 20-22...

Colossians 2:20-22 20

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world (note that he doesn’t say “basic

principles of God”), why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21

“Do not

handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 22

These are all destined to perish with use, because they

are based on human commands and teachings.

In understanding the context, it was the Gnostics that came in and started polluting the doctrine of the

Colossians. The Gnostics directed the Colossians away from what Paul originally taught and practiced

(the Law of God - doing Bible things in Bible ways). They even began imposing Gnostic ascetic beliefs

and man-made commands that had to do with bodily sensory pleasures, neglecting the body and the like.

(Do not handle, do not touch, things like that) The Lord’s Feast days are a big problem for the Gnostics

because these days are all about eating. That is why they are called ‘feasts’.

The Gnostics were into worshipping angels and pursuing secret knowledge. They hated God’s feast days

because they thought anything physical, including food, was evil. Thus, it is easily concluded by most

that it was the Gnostics who was telling the Colossians to NOT keep the Feast days. This is why Paul

was saying they should not let themselves be judged for keeping them.

You may want to consider doing a small study, on yourown, on the Gnostics. You may be surprised

what you find. Some study Bibles give side notes that expounds on the Gnostics. Like that of the

Zondervan Life Application Bible.

Paul was railing the whole time against the Gnostics and their traditions. These traditions were clearly

contrary to God’s law and to what Christ did on the cross in nearly every possible way. Paul even states

that these are commandments and doctrines originating from men, not God. Letting us know that this is

not about God’s law, but men’s religious traditions.

We must understand that the law is not human commands and teachings. The law is God’s commands.

It’s HIS instructions to us in teaching us how to live.

Thus the encouragement of verse 16 is regarding their obedience to that which was established in the

law.

Consider now verse 17. It doesn’t say that these are done away with in Christ. It shows that these are a

foreshadow of the things to come. Meaning that they are to be followed as reminders of that which is

still yet to happen.

Think of it for a moment. The spring feast of Passover and First Fruits of Unleavened Bread, along with

Pentecost, were Holy days that represented the past, BUT the reality was actually found in Christ. Thus

meaning, that those Holy days were prophetically pointing to Christ all along. And now they point back

to Him as a memorial to him and all He did.

Thus, here, Paul mentions the festivals, the New Moon celebration and the Sabbath day as prophetic

pointers as well. He’s referencing the Fall holy days. These are the Day of Trumpets, the Day of

Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The New Moon celebration is the Day of Trumpets. The only Holy day given to us by God that falls on

a new moon. This represents the day of Christ’s return.

He also mentions the Sabbath day. So what is the Sabbath a foreshadow of? This obviously represents

the 1,000 years of rest in the Millennium.

For those who may have never heard of this, allow me to briefly explain in giving a few examples.

A verse that is often referred to is found in 2 Peter...

2 Peter 3:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a

thousand years are like a day.

Many have said that this is just Peter showing how time is of no essence to God. And this could very

well be the case. However, there is more to consider, thus letting us know why Peter used these very

words to show how God views time.

We know that God created everything in 6 days, and then ceased from that work on the 7th day. And we

can see that same plan worked out through the ages. Compare what is mentioned concerning the days of

man...

Genesis 6:3

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days

will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Father says that man’s days shall be 120 years.

It is very clear in the Hebrew that the word shana used here for years does indeed mean “years”. Yet we

can’t help but wonder if the Father is showing us something even deeper in this text. If we think about it,

the average life span of man after the flood was much less than 120.

So then, if we understand it to be 120 “countings,” by way of Jubilees, it actually takes us to a total of

6,000 years.

Man’s days shall be 120 years (Jubilees).

120 Jubilee’s (or 50’s) = 6,000

For a further study on that, please see Part 3 of our End of Days series.

We know that it is approximately 4,000 years from Adam to Yeshua. Then 2,000 years from Yeshua to

current day. Placing us near the time of the 7th 1,000-year period. The 1,000-year reign of Yeshua as

mentioned in Revelation.

Plus, whenever you hear the phrase “Day of the Lord,” it is normally referencing the beginning, or the

whole, of the 1,000-year reign of Yeshua. The 7th “day” of rest. And this is why we see Peter

mentioning a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day, because just a few verses down, in

verse 10, he’s actually talking about the Day of the Lord”.

And so the Sabbath and the Fall Holy days will have a literal fulfillment at Christ’s Second Coming, just

as the spring feasts did at His first coming.

Thus, they are a shadow of the reality that is to come, that we currently live out in looking forward to the

reality that they represent. Just like those of the Spring Holy days.

Now, consider this...

What was the command that Christ gave His disciples just before He ascended into heaven? It was to go

and make disciples.

Matthew 28:19-20 19

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

They were to be a light to all the surrounding nations. To teach others to walk in the truth. The day will

come in the Millennium (the Sabbath day of the Lord) when we will even rest from this work of making

disciples. Compare...

Jeremiah 31:34

No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’

because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I

will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Just as we are to rest on the 7th day of the week, we will also rest on the 7th millennium. Known in

prophecy as “The Day of the Lord”.

This is what the 7th day of the week represents. The millennial reign of Christ. This is what is

referenced in Acts 3:21. Compare...

Acts 3:21

He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised

long ago through his holy prophets.

When He comes again, everything will be restored. That includes having everyone follow that which He

established from the beginning, the 7th day of rest. Compare also...

Isaiah 66:22-23

“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD,

“so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one

Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD.

Even here we see confirmation that the Father’s desire is for all to follow His Sabbath in the new

Heaven and new earth. So at creation He established His Sabbath. At Christ’s first coming He confirmed

it. At Christ’s return He re-establishes it. Knowing that He is the same yesterday, today and forever, why

would we believe that He would do away with it in the middle, only to bring it back?

Some have used Hebrews Chapter 4 to say that Heaven will be our Sabbath in the Lord now. So let’s

examine Hebrews Chapter 4 and see. For the sake of not repeating too much, it would be extremely

beneficial to watch the teaching called “The Righteous Shall Live by Faith”. This teaching actually

covers the last part of Hebrews Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4.

As established, the 1,000-year reign of Yeshua is our Sabbath rest. It is the rest that we are waiting to

enter after judgment.

Let us not forget that Yeshua said that He is Lord of the Sabbath in Mark 2:28.

The weekly Sabbath is a prophetic foreshadowing of the last 1,000 years, the Day of the Lord. The day

that He reigns on Earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. Reigning as Lord of the Sabbath.

The promise still remains for us entering His rest.

Hebrews 4:1

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have

come short of it.

Then the author of Hebrews warns us about what happened to Israel in the dessert.

Verse 2 ...

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did

not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

Notice here in verse 2 that they had the same gospel preached to them - as we did. We have received the

same Word of God as they did. The same message.

How many of us have been taught that the New Testament was all about the new gospel? This definitely

makes us reconsider that thought.

For a further study on the gospel, please see our teaching called “What is The Gospel?”

The author here explains in Hebrews 4 that they did not have the faith to carry out the Word of God, for

if they really had faith, they would have done the Word of God.

Doing the word of God truly proves your faith in the Word of God. As verse 2 says, they did combine

what they heard with faith. Meaning they didn’t combine it with obedience.

So, we who have faith, who have believed or ... obey, enter that rest as verse 3 says …

Hebrews 4:3

For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘ They

shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Notice, just like verse 1 stated that we have not yet entered that rest, verse 3 focuses on those who have

“believed” …verse 2 implies that those who successfully walked out their faith, or ran the race as Paul

calls it, are those who enter His rest. We believe, and we are believing, but until we reach the end, we

have not yet fully believed. One who believes is one who obeys.

Does that sound foreign to you? Then consider this from Chapter 3...

Hebrews 3:14, 16-19 14

For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast

to the end, …16

For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt,

led by Moses? 17

Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned,

whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His

rest, but to those who did not obey? 19

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

So, scripturally speaking, the one who obeys IS the one who believes.

Then the author begins teaching on the Day of the Lord, the day of rest, as the 7th day.

Hebrews 4:4-10 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the

seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did

not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,”

after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your

hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another

day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

10 For he who has entered His rest

has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

You see, there is another day that we look forward to, the day of rest. It is not until we enter the Sabbath

rest, the last 1,000 years, the Day of the Lord, that we finally cease from our work. Most of us agree that

we are still working. We are still sharing the Word and teaching the nations.

The rest still remains.

Israel, in the desert, trampled all over the covenant, and they did not enter into His rest. They received

the same gospel as us, but did not walk it out in faith. They continued willfully sinning. They continued

in disobedience. They continued in unbelief.

So if we do not follow the Word of God, does that mean we will not enter that still pending 1,000 year

rest at the Day of the Lord?

Let’s continue reading in Chapter 4

Hebrews 4:11-13 11

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of

disobedience. 12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged

sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a

discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13

And there is no creature hidden from His

sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

We need to be diligent in order to enter that rest, which means living in agreement with the Word of

God, not against it as the Children of Israel did in the desert.

If you say you believe and have faith in the Word of God, which is who Yeshua claims to be (show John

1:14; Revelation 19:13), the same yesterday, today and forever (show Hebrews 13:8), then you will

begin following all of the Word of God, instead of select portions of it. Starting with the Sabbath.

Now consider this...

Luke 23:56

Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in

obedience to the commandment.

Now, this was after the death of Christ. So at least between the death and resurrection of Christ, we see

His followers still observing the Sabbath.

If Christ established Sunday as the new Sabbath, then we should have it from His own mouth, shouldn’t

we? As it is, what was His last command to His followers in Matthew 28? Compare...

Matthew 28:18-20 18

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Well, what was it that He commanded them to obey? Compare 5 chapters earlier.

Matthew 23:1-3 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees

sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what

they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

He commanded them to obey Moses. These were the last words Christ said to His disciples in Matthew

Nowhere in any of His instructions that He gave after His resurrection will you find Him saying

ANYTHING that opposes His instructions to obey Moses. Nowhere.

Just as Christ told His disciple to obey Moses in Matthew 23. And then told them to command the new

disciples to obey everything He commanded them, we see them obeying the command of Matthew 28 in

Acts 15. Compare...

Acts 15:20-21 20

Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from

sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21

For Moses has been

preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

So we see that the disciples were truly following what Yeshua instructed them in teaching Moses to

others.

The New Testament is all about the law being written on our hearts so we may obey it. ALL of it.

Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 are very clear in prophesying how the law would still be alive and well in

the new covenant. All too often these verses are overlooked or just passed over quickly, never really

examining to see how they apply to us today in our everyday lives let alone the 7th day of the week.

Some try to say that the Sabbath was only given to the Jews and that now Sunday is the new Sabbath for

the believers in Christ. The problem with this is that it proclaims that there are two laws. Two ways of

obedience. Two ways to follow God. One way for the Jews and one way for the Gentiles. Let us not

forget the words of Paul...

Ephesians 4:4-6 4 There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called

5

one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and

in all.

Romans 10:12

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly

blesses all who call on him,

AND

Colossians 3:11

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free,

but Christ is all, and is in all.

As mentioned in Acts 15 regarding the new believers, we all grow in that way of obedience as we grow

in the understanding of the word. We must not forget that obedience is not a prerequisite for salvation.

It’s the fruit of our salvation.

So, in the body of Christ there will be many at various levels of our walk. Yet they are all in the body.

Fruit doesn’t just appear. It grows. And actually, the fruit is the desire of pursuing obedience to God’s

word, verses having no desire at all. This is what is discussed in our “Fruit of Wolves” teaching.

So Colossians says...

Colossians 3:11

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free,

but Christ is all, and is in all.

Though we are all learning and growing, we are all learning and growing in Christ. The ONE way, the

ONE truth and the ONE life.

Paul is paralleling exactly to what was said in Numbers 15.

Numbers 15:15-16 15

The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a

lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the

LORD: 16

The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among

you.’”

And

Exodus 12:49

The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.”

The idea of having outsiders being a part of God’s people, or being “grafted in” was not a new concept

in the New Testament. It has always been this way. For further study on that topic, please see our

teaching titled “What is ‘Grafted In?’”

So here we see that even when Moses presented the Law, it was for all who would choose to follow

God. Not just for the descendants of Jacob.

This clearly lets us know that it’s NOT just for the “Jews,” as many like to say, but rather for all who

choose to follow after God.

There are still those who insist that Sunday is the new Sabbath for the believers in Christ.

Yet the biggest problem here is that there are no Scriptures to point us to Sunday. None. None

whatsoever.

So if the Scriptures do not point us to the Sabbath being changed, when, where and how did the church

get to the point of commonly accepting Sunday as the “new” Sabbath day. It doesn’t take much digging

to find this out. And you may be surprised what we find.

Consider the following quotes. And bear with us. We actually have quite a few. But we share them to

establish a point, as you will see.

“I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am

bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic

Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church

says: ‘No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first

day of the week.’ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the

command of the holy Catholic Church.” — Father T. Enright, C.S.S.R. of the Redemptoral

College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, printed in History of

the Sabbath, p. 802

“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the

First Century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the

Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s

sense of its own power ... People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should

logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.”

St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.

“It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the

resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they

pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) church.”

Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About The Protestantism of Today, p. 213.

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible

does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the

Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic

Church.”

Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic

principles ... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the

transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”

Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900.

“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath

be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep

holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep

Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.”

Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article “To Tell You the Truth.”

“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic

Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to

Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a

denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it

should worship on Saturday.”

Rome’s Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003

“Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of

worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath.

But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His

Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The

(Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added

other days as holy days.”

John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition, vol. 1,

p. 51.

“Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of

Sunday is known to have been ordained, is the sabbatical edict of Constantine, A.D. 321.”

Chambers Encyclopedia, Article: “Sunday.”

The following is what Constantine’s law required of the people...

“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of

the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the

business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and

planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by

Heaven.”

Translated from the original edict in Latin, now in Harvard College U.S.A. - Also in Codex

Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; translated in Phillip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, Vol.

3, p. 380.

Not long after Constantine’s first Sunday Law of A.D. 321, the Roman church made it official church

doctrine by declaring it was a ‘Jewish day’. This church doctrine demanded all Christians to break

Commandment #4 by working on Sabbath.

“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [in the original: sabbato, shall not be idle on

the Sabbath], but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and as

being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing,

they shall be shut out [anathema — excommunicated] from Christ.” Council of Laodicea, c. A.D.

337, Canon 29, quoted in C.J. Hefele’s A History of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316. -

Also in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1899 Edition, Vol. XXIII, page 654.

OK. I think you get the picture. Both Scriptures and History prove the fourth commandment’s seventh

day Sabbath was never changed by Yeshua or His Apostles. Truth is, the Sabbath change came almost

300 years after the Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven.

It was the Roman Catholic Church that changed the Sabbath to Sunday. And yet the Protestant churches

that claim to have left the Catholic Church, is still holding to one of the biggest elements of the Catholic

church still today, ... observing Sunday as the Sabbath.

Though some will argue that the Catholic Church was already in existence before Constantine, they

cannot deny the fact of influence that Constantine had on the Catholic Church.

Many also point to the church fathers, and even the councils, that had agreed to Sunday as the new

Sabbath, as being enough evidence for them on this issue.

To which I can only respond with ... Do we follow the teachings and traditions of men or God’s word?

What did Christ rebuke the Pharisee’s and teacher’s of the Law for?

Compare...

Mark 7:6-9 6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These

people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” 7 They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are

holding on to the traditions of men.” 9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting

aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

And verse 13...

Mark 7:13

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do

many things like that.”

He rebuked for holding to the traditions that were passed down from their “Fathers”.

Nowhere are we instructed to follow “Church Fathers”. We are instructed to follow God’s word.

So just what does the word of God say regarding the Sabbath?

Well, we know that the Father set the example of ceasing from His work on the Sabbath and sanctifying

it.

Genesis 2:2-3 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he

rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he

rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

It was the day that He set apart from the beginning to be holy.

Now compare...

Exodus 31:13

“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you

for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

“...This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come,”

Please, focus on that for a moment.

“...This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come,”

Also,

Ezekiel 20:12

Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made

them holy.

Ezekiel 20:20

Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the

LORD your God.”

So the Sabbath was given not only as a day of rest for us but also as a sign between us and the Father.

This is huge and can’t be underscored enough. It’s a sign as a reminder that just as he made the Sabbath

day holy, it is also Him that makes US holy.

It’s the day that He uses to set apart as a reminder to us that we may never forget that we, His people,

are to be a light to the nations.

This was the purpose of Israel, His people, from the beginning. Compare...

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you

may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully,

for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these

decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

Israel was to be an example, a light, to the surrounding nations. And God established His Sabbath as the

reminder to them for that purpose.

We know that Israel failed in keeping His law and thus failing in being that example and light to the

nations. And so He sent His son to be that living example for us in teaching us how to be that light to the

nations.

Compare the prophecy in Isaiah regarding Christ...

Isaiah 42:6

“I, the LORD (YHWH), have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will

keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,)

This parallels with the very words of Christ Himself...

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me

will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And let us not forget how when we are in Him, we are that light as intended back in Deuteronomy 4.

Matthew 5:14

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Think of it for a moment. When you turn a light on in a dark room, that light stands out. Likewise, when

you follow the Sabbath, you will stand out. To shine HIS light to those around us?

So the Sabbath is the day that the Father has given us as a sign. And that sign is to help shine His light to

the world.

Many have said that the Sabbath was never intended to be for the Gentiles. But even as Numbers 15 and

Exodus 12, that we looked at earlier, shows that not to be the case. There is another verse that expounds

on it as well. I’m sure you have heard it. Well, at least part of it. Have you ever heard the scripture that

says ...

“my house will be called a house of prayer”?

Of course you have. It’s the same verse that Christ Himself quotes when turning over the tables of the

money changers in the temple.

But let’s look at the surrounding text of that quote and see what we find. ...

Isaiah 56:6-7 6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD,

and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my

covenant — 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a

house of prayer for all nations.”

Not just for the Jews, but for all nations. The foreigners who join themselves to God’s people. Like

Ruth.

It was, and is, God’s desire for ALL nations to come and keep His Sabbath and hold to His covenant.

It’s His desire for all nations to come and be grafted in to the olive tree as Paul refers to in Romans 11.

But what olive tree is Paul referring to? In order to understand Romans 11, we must understand

Jeremiah 11. Compare...

Jeremiah 11:16

The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form...

It’s His desire for all to come out of the peoples of the world and come be a part of His people. And we

do that through Christ. Compare...

Ephesians 2:11-13 11

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised”

by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) — 12

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel

and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood

of Christ.

Do you see here how in Christ we are brought near? Brought near to what though? All that is mentioned

in verse 12. We are now citizens of Israel, partakers of the covenants, now having hope and God in this

world.

1st, the Citizenship...

Philippians 3:20

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus

Christ,

When one is in Christ, they are a citizen of Israel. A true Israelite. We become ... a Hebrew. By

definition, the very name “Hebrew” means ‘one from the other side (of the river).’ Or “crossed over”.

Thus, one who has crossed over.

It truly brings to light what Christ said in John

John 5:24

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and

will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

2nd, the Covenants…

Jeremiah 31:33

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I

will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be

my people.

Notice how the New Covenant takes the previous covenant and places it in our minds and on our hearts.

Thus, we are partakers of the covenants. Plural. The New Covenant takes all that which eventually

became known as the law of Moses and places it on our heart and mind.

It’s important to note who this New Covenant is for... The House of Israel. His people. Thus we are

grafted in.

Then, the Hope...

1 John 3:2-4 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he Isaiah 3

Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

So if we have this hope, what are we to purify ourselves from? Compare the next verse...

1 John 3:4

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

And so we keep the Sabbath in obedience to the law. As the sign that He has given us.

And let us not forget verse 19 of Ephesians 2. That gives a concluding statement on the issue at hand.

Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and

members of God’s household,

Many try to use verses 14 and 15 in saying that Christ did away with the law. For a further study on

theses verses, we cover them in our “Lost Sheep” teaching.

The Father gave the Sabbath to His people to last forever.

Exodus 31:16-17 16

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting

covenant. 17

It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD

made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’”

So what does it mean to observe the Sabbath. How do we observe the Sabbath? What do the scriptures

tell us in how we are to observe this day?

This is a common question. And we ask that you remember one thing when you ask someone how to

observe the Sabbath. You need only to follow what the Father tells you ... not man. Otherwise you

would be following man and not the Father. So, as always, we ask that you test everything in this.

We have six days to do what we want, and we are given one day to do what He knows we need. What is

the one thing everyone needs today in this fast paced world? It is rest, and to be closer to the Lord.

Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not a punishment; it should be a joy

because we are getting closer to our Creator while getting our batteries recharged.

So let’s go over some instructions, as given in the scriptures, and see what we come up with.

First, let’s cover the most discussed about concerning the Sabbath... Work.

Deuteronomy 5:14

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither

you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or

any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant

may rest, as you do.

The question often comes up... “What if I have to work on the Sabbath?”

Let it be known that we understand the difficulty of this topic. And we understand how easy it can be for

one who does not hold a job that requires them to work on the Sabbath to not understand the frustration

of one who is not able to keep the Sabbath.

We in no way look down on anyone who is in this position. In fact, our hearts go out to you. And we

pray that the Father will open up a door at your job, that will enable you to obey as your heart desires.

On this note, it must be noted that one is not saved because they observe the law. We are saved by the

work of Christ on the Cross.

So we are saved through His righteousness. We are judged, however, on how we pursue that

righteousness.

Just as Paul mentioned in …

Philippians 2:12

“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

So then, make it a point that you are doing just that. Working out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Don’t live your salvation casually and passive. Do all that you can to seek obedience.

There is a difference between one who is pursuing obedience and one who is rebelling. One who rebels

is one who ignores, even rejects the commands of God.

Regardless of the reason they deem worthy for their justification, they are still rejecting God’s eternal

word. Yet one who pursues is one who does all that is possible to obey those commands. It’s a matter of

acknowledging or denying as Christ said in Matthew 10:32-33. For more detail on that topic, please see

our teaching called “Acknowledge or Deny”.

We’ve heard it said before “But we live in Egypt. We can’t always follow as we want.” To which, we

agree. We are living in an “Egypt” if you will. It’s an environment that does not follow the ways of the

Father.

However, it must be noted that no one is forcing us to live in this setting either. We are where we are, by

choice. If the lifestyle we have chosen is causing conflict in obedience, should we not reconsider our

lifestyle? Do we allow our lifestyle to determine if we obey the Father? Or should we make our

obedience to the Father determine our lifestyle?

Should we allow the surrounding influence of the world to sway our opinion of what the Father has

already established in His word?

There is no doubt that there are those in emergency type positions where it is difficult, if not impossible,

to always be off on the Sabbath. Like those of the medical field, police or fire protection. Such positions

indeed make it difficult to be off every Sabbath because of their rotating schedules.

Yet, even with these type of jobs, we have seen the Father open up other positions in that job to enable

the believer to observe and keep the Sabbath.

The bottom line is that you need to be open to the Father in bearing your heart to Him so that He will

open something up for you, to enable you to keep His Sabbath. We must always do our best in pursuing

obedience, no matter the circumstance we may be up against.

Again, we can’t underscore enough that we understand how this can be a difficult topic for many.

Simply because they have jobs that do not allow them to observe the Sabbath.

At the same time we believe this topic should not be overlooked as the Sabbath is given to us a sign

between us and the Father.

And again, we in no way look down on anyone who is in this position. Our hearts go out to you. And we

truly pray that the Father will open up a door at your job, that will enable you to obey as your heart

desires.

Having said all this, we are obligated as ministers of the Word of God, to remind us all of the weight

that this topic bears in the word of God

Exodus 31:15

For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.

Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

This is huge. We bring this to light, not to say that those who break the Sabbath should be put to death

today, simply because there is no Sanhedrin today to carry this out. But rather to show the severity of the

matter in the eyes of the Father.

This was something that meant a lot to the Father. And knowing that He is the same yesterday, today

and forever, we know that it means a lot to Him today just the same.

Knowing this is how He views the Sabbath, shouldn’t we view it the same?

Think of this for a moment. Not even stealing is given such a punishment. Yet in the eyes of the Father,

one who breaks the Sabbath deserves a greater punishment than the one who steals. Yet in today’s

society, one who breaks the Sabbath is not even considered a law breaker of any kind. Even if they

break their own Sabbath of Sunday. While one who is a thief can receive one of many consequences.

Along these same lines, murder is given the SAME punishment of death in the Scriptures as breaking

the Sabbath. So in the eyes of the Father, one who breaks the Sabbath deserves the same punishment as

the one who commits murder. This is huge and all too often overlooked. Yet, it’s hard for us to

comprehend this concept because of the society that we have grown up and currently live in. The ways

of the Father are truly foreign to the world around us, thus, all too often, making our understanding and

ways foreign to the Father’s.

It should be our prayer to view the Sabbath the same way the Father does. To maintain it as that sign

which He established between Him and us — forever.

It needs to be noted that if you are given the OPTION to work on the Sabbath as overtime, we

personally believe that option should be refused. Even if you “need” the money. This falls in the same

category of Exodus 34...

Exodus 34:21

“Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season

and harvest you must rest.

Even though they may have been in the middle of plowing or harvest, they were to obey. Forcing them

to truly trust the Father.

Regardless of how good the weather in doing such work, they were commanded to obey and keep the

Sabbath. Regardless of how urgent it was to get that job done, they were commanded to obey and keep

the Sabbath.

No matter how bad we need that extra money, we are commanded to obey and keep the Sabbath - to

trust that His ways are higher than ours, and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Show

Hebrews 11:6)

Remember, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

It’s for our benefit. He knows what’s best. In fact, when we disobey by choice, our actions are telling the

Father that we think we know best. Thus, placing our authority over His.

It’s one thing to be struggling with having to work on the Sabbath, But it’s another to dismiss it

altogether.

We must not forget just how the Father views this day.

Exodus 31:14

“‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death;

whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.

Exodus 31:16

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting

covenant.

Leviticus 16:31

It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.

So make it your desire to obey and observe the Sabbath in keeping that sign that He has established

between us and Him. Even if your job requires you to work on the Sabbath now, make it your desire to

keep the Sabbath and Pray that He opens a door for you to keep that which He established as the sign

between us and Him.

We all agree that the Father works in mysterious ways, and when you bear your heart to Him in wanting

to obey, we believe that, somehow, He will make a way for you to do so.

In this crazy world that we live in, things truly are different than what they were in the days of the bible.

For example, today, people can go to work all week long and never once do ANY physical labor. They

may work at a desk and never once break a sweat because of physical exertion. Yet for those of you who

may have this kind of job, you know the stress, tension and just how that kind of job can wear you out.

Even though you may not have done anything physical.

So how does one rest from a job like that? Some actually may NEED to do something physical. Work

out, play tennis, go running or whatever. It actually helps relieve their body of the stress that has built up

over the week. We know that there may be some who struggle with that. But, normally, those who

struggle with it are the ones who are not stuck behind a desk and a computer 40+ hours a week.

As long as you are resting from your work and are not requiring anyone else to work, we currently can

find no biblical foundation for fault in this.

Remember, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Another point to consider is that of helping our neighbor on the Sabbath.

From a heart of Love to the Father and our Fellow man is how we are to live our lives. This is even how

Yeshua explains it in Luke...

Luke 14:5

Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day,

will you not immediately pull him out?”

Just because one is resting from their work in honor of the Lord on the Sabbath does not mean that they

should dishonor Him by neglecting the immediate need of a brother, or sister, that arises on that same

day.

We simply must be mindful to properly define “immediate need”.

We must do our best to truly work out our salvation with fear and trembling every day. And if you see

someone not observing the Sabbath as you believe it should be observed ... pray for them.

One day soon all the questions that surround so many topics like this will be answered for all of us. But

until then we must pursue in purity of heart and pray that we all work out our salvation with fear and

trembling.

In all of this, we must make it our desire to set the Sabbath day apart as holy and guard it so we do not

allow it to become a day that we focus on what pleases us or even others. Compare...

Isaiah 58:13-14 13

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy

day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by

not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14

then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

It’s a day that we are to set aside unto Him, our family and fellow believers. It’s the day we are to guard

in keeping holy, set apart.

In Numbers 15, we read of a man who was stoned for just gathering wood. Many would say that this

sounds harsh; however, what was he gathering the wood for? If he was doing this in plans to keep warm,

we would agree that it does seem harsh. However, with them already being in a hot desert, the odds of

needing firewood to keep warm is pretty slim. And even if he DID need firewood to keep warm, it’s not

like he couldn’t borrow wood from neighbors to get him by for one night.

Chances are that he was actually planning and preparing work for the next day. Thus, he wasn’t keeping

the day set apart unto the Lord. It was as if he began making it like any other day of the week instead of

making it a day that is truly set apart.

Now, what about buying on the Sabbath? Making someone else work on the Sabbath?

This was one of the reasons why the Southern Kingdom was banished to Babylon in the first place as

Nehemiah said.

First compare Chapter 10.

Nehemiah 10:31

“When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not

buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.

Now let’s go three chapters down.

Nehemiah 13:16-17

16 Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and

selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17

I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing —

desecrating the Sabbath day?

Notice the severity in how Nehemiah addresses them in breaking the Sabbath. He says it’s wicked or

evil. Actually desecrating it. Should this not be our view of breaking the Sabbath? How easy it is to

allow the world around us to let our guard down, in protecting that which the Father gave us as a sign

between Him and us.

Continuing on...

Nehemiah 13:18-21 18

Didn’t your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us

and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the

Sabbath.” 19

When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered

the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men

at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20

Once or twice the

merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21

But I warned

them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on

you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath.

And please know, when he said he would lay hands on them, he wasn’t talking about prayer.

Many have said that it doesn’t matter if they go to the store to buy something on the Sabbath because the

store is already open. The people are already working. They say that the people are working there

whether they go or not. So what’s the difference?

The question then needs to be asked, whose light would you be shining to the world around you then?

Would you be shining the light of obedience as Christ exemplified for us or that of disobedience?

Let us not forget...

Deuteronomy 5:14

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither

you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or

any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant

may rest, as you do.

Many are quick to say that they don’t have any servants. And that may be true; however, when we

purchase something from somewhere, we are paying that individual to serve us. Thus at that brief

moment, that individual is our servant and we are making that individual work for us. The Father says

this is not to happen on the Sabbath.

I’ve also heard people say that this was only while living in the city of Jerusalem that this applies. Many

will reference the verses we read in Nehemiah regarding that. However, the Scriptures are quite clear

that this is not the case. Compare...

Leviticus 23:1-4 1 The Lord said to Moses,

2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed

feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 3 ‘There

are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred

assembly. You are not to do any work; WHEREVER you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord. 4 These

are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

So, wherever we live we are to observe everything the Father has instructed us regarding the Sabbath

day.

Why would the one day that was made for us - not be needed outside of Jerusalem?

Wouldn’t it only make sense that the one day that was given to us — as a sign — be for us to live out

that sign in front of the nations? In front of those who live outside of Jerusalem?

It’s expected that the world won’t follow the Sabbath. But do we follow them? Or do we follow our

Heavenly Father in shining His light?

Have you ever considered the Lord’s prayer? “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in

Heaven.”

It’s God’s will that all men everywhere come to repentance and walk in His ways. And He desires us to

shine forth His light to them. To not be a part of the problem, but a part of the solution.

So remember, we are to make no one be our manservant or maidservant on the Sabbath.

This brings up the question then, “What about making “online” purchases on the Sabbath?” Because in

reality, no one is working. It’s simply a transaction being made that normally isn’t even processed until

the following Monday. This topic can go either way depending on who you talk to. And honestly, we

believe you need to work that out between you and the Father.

Unless the purchase is just an absolute necessity by way of emergency, or pulling your Ox out of a well

— if you will, our family avoids all purchases on that day. Mainly because of the verse previously

mentioned in Isaiah ...

Isaiah 58:13-14 13

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath AND from doing as you please on my holy

day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by

not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14

then you will find

your joy in the LORD,

We understand that there are many views on this and we, in no way, are claiming to have the answer on

this. This is simply our conviction and we pray that you follow the Father as you believe He is leading

you.

So what about the Sabbath day’s journey? I’ve had several people, those who don’t pursue Torah, tell

me that I can’t travel farther than a Sabbath’s day journey on the Sabbath day. I then ask them where

that is found in the law? The normal response is something like ... “Well, I don’t know but I know it’s

there.”

This is a perfect example of someone quoting man and NOT scripture. Nowhere in the Torah, the law,

do we find any instruction regarding a “Sabbath Day’s journey”. It’s just not there.

So where does that phrase come from? ... Compare…

Acts 1:12

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk

from the city.

The phrase “A Sabbath Day’s Walk” actually came from the Pharisees’ oral law that later became

known as the Talmud. Some would point to this scripture in saying that the Disciples were adhering to

this law out of obedience to the Sabbath day. However, this verse is strictly showing a distance by a

commonly-used measure. It does not mean that the followers were keeping a Pharisaical tradition.

Nowhere do find any such specific instruction in the law. Neither do we find any of the disciples

following such an instruction that is not founded in the Word of God.

What we do find is this verse:

Exodus 16:29 … Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

The Pharisees wanted to define how far a man could go on the Sabbath without breaking Exodus 16:29.

So, they invented, a Sabbath’s day walk, which was about a mile. However, the Law of God is not that

specific. The idea that YHVH wants to communicate is that we are not to work. Thus, we do not want

to be traveling so far as to wear ourselves out; thus any travel on a Sabbath should be light and not

burdensome. The Sabbath is about rest. Exodus 16:29 means that we should stay in our general vicinity

on that day; meaning we can travel but in our own locality, nothing that would be out of the ordinary or

tiresome.

Another example of the Oral law blurring ones understanding is that of Yeshua “breaking” the Sabbath

in the eye’s of the Pharisees.

Compare....

John 5:18

For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but

he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So here we see an accusation of Yeshua breaking the Sabbath. What was His actions here that they said

was breaking the Sabbath? The context here is where Yeshua heals a paralytic in telling him to take up

his mat and walk. So in the eyes of the Pharisees, He’s breaking the Sabbath in two ways. Healing on

the Sabbath, and telling someone to carry their mat. Both of which, to the Pharisees added commands,

was breaking the Sabbath. Please note that it was breaking the Pharisees added commands and NOT the

Law of God.

It must be noted that these added laws that were put in place were done so out of good intention at the

beginning. They were to help God’s people to not come close to breaking God’s law. A fence, if you

will, to keep them a safe distance from disobedience.

But these added laws eventually became elevated by the leadership to the same status of God’s law. And

this is why God said...

Deuteronomy 4:2

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the

LORD your God that I give you.

When it came to the topic of healing on the Sabbath, Yeshua set the record, and the Pharisees, straight.

Compare the following...

Luke 13:10-17 10

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11

and a woman was there who had

been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12

When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from

your infirmity.” 13

Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and

praised God. 14

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to

the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the

Sabbath.” 15

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie

his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16

Then should not this woman, a

daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the

Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but

the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

There are many assumptions made by people regarding what they believe concerning the Sabbath day.

Or any of God’s instructions, for that matter. The problem is that many of these assumptions are based

on man-made rules that have been passed down through the ages, and not on the Word of God.

So we ask that you be mindful of that which you hold to. Be sure that it is based in the Scriptures and

not tradition. If there is a difference of opinion on any particular verse, that’s OK. We can all learn and

grow from there. At least we will be founded on Scripture and not on something that has just been

passed down from the fathers of the faith.

Our goal should be that we grow in the word of God, not the word of Man.

Again, if there are differences of opinion on a verse, that’s OK. I’ve once heard it said ... “We are all on

a journey…as long as we continue to hear, learn and follow.”

As long as we all have a humble heart before the Father, He will lead us into His truth.

What about traveling on the Sabbath?

I have a friend whose job requires him to be gone occasionally on weekends. He makes it a point to put

the “Do not bother” sign on his door the whole day of the Sabbath, just to make sure that no one cleans

his room. He goes the extra mile to make it a point that he makes no one work on the Sabbath. There is

no doubt that this can be difficult, but it is possible.

Another topic that is often discussed concerning the Sabbath is that of cooking. So let’s look at some

verses here and see what we come up with.

Exodus 16:23

He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy

Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save

whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

So it is instructed that all food preparations for the Sabbath be done on the previous day.

So there is no doubt that there is to be no cooking on the Sabbath. But let’s remember that preparing

food back then was much different as it is today. When one was going to cook back then, they started

with virtually nothing and made from scratch just about every time. So cooking in itself was truly work.

This is why they were instructed to plan ahead before the Sabbath would start. This instruction was

given that all may enjoy and observe the Sabbath.

But today things are truly easier when it comes to food preparations. I mean think about it. Take a frozen

dish that you might buy at the grocery store. In order to prepare the dish, all you do is preheat the oven

and then place it in the oven for 45 minutes or so. That’s it. Next thing you know, dinner’s on the table.

One would be hard pressed to call that work.

However, even with all the modern appliances and cooking utensils that we may have today, preparing a

meal in the kitchen can still be work, if we allow it. Though I don’t personally see making a peanut

butter and jelly sandwich to be considered work in the kitchen, preparing a full course meal is a different

story.

This is something that we truly need to approach from a servant’s heart. I’ve spoken with many who

started making something on the Sabbath that they considered to be easy. Yet, when they were done

making it, they confessed that they said to themselves “Never again.”. And this, ... is what I call ...

Growing.

Clearly, there are commandments that are very clear as it relates to the Sabbath, and we should afford

others correction on those matters as such situations present themselves. However, some matters are not

that clear on what is defined as work. We must be cautious and not judge others in how they observe the

Sabbath. Though they may not observe it the way you believe it needs to be observed, thankfully they

are observing it and not rebelling against it altogether.

We are so far removed from knowing how everything is to be observed that we can only do our best and

keep our hearts open to the Father as we pursue His ways. When our eyes are opened to something, be it

from a fellow believer or the Spirit speaking directly to our heart, we need to stay humble in keeping a

servants attitude and not allow our hearts to be hardened in our own ways. We must never forget that our

goal is to pursue His ways, and not justify our own.

Some have used Exodus 35:3 to say that cooking is not allowed on the Sabbath as well. It reads...

Exodus 35:3

“Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

For a detailed study on this verse, please see our teaching titled “No Fire on the Sabbath”.

Not long ago a good question was presented to us. It was...

“How does a housewife ‘rest’ on the Sabbath?”

Being that, obviously, their job is to take care of the children, how can she possibly feel that a certain

day is “rest” or “set apart” from the rest of the week?

Several suggestions were discussed amongst those in the conversation. It was concluded that children

still need to be cared for, animals as well, and people still need to eat on the Sabbath; but, toilets don’t

need to be scrubbed, laundry can wait and floors don’t have to be swept.

It’s best to work together to get as much done during the week so you can have the day to “enjoy” your

children...lots of time for play, stories, art...etc. A day to focus on the Lord and your family without the

“business” of work. What better way to teach the love of YHWH to your young children than to delight

in them.

The dishes can wait. The beds can stay a mess. There’s no need to sweat the small stuff. Planning ahead

and pitching in together at the end, makes the Sabbath an awesome day for everyone.

Something that we must never forget is that the Sabbath is a day that we are to gather with other

believers. Compare...

Leviticus 23:3

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of

sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.

This is where we learn and grow with one another. Where we share our previous week, our triumphs and

needs. This is where we learn to become the body as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12.

Truly, no man is an island. We are all created with a need for others. The Sabbath is where we learn to

understand that need. It’s where we learn that we all have different perspectives of the Word of God.

Some may be right and some may be wrong. And so we learn Proverbs 27:17…

Proverbs 27:17

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

So, can we meet on other days? Of course. And we believe we should, if at all possible. But the Sabbath

is the one day that the Father commands all of His people, around the world, to gather together.

The problem that we find for some is that they may have no knowledge of any fellow believers in their

local area. Making it difficult, if not impossible, to gather with other believers.

We know that there are those who join in to watch fellowships that have their services online. And

though we acknowledge that this definitely better than nothing, we ask that you not settle for that either.

Don’t stop looking for other believers in your area. Though meeting with others on-line is nice, nothing

beats meeting with believers face-to-face. If you are in need of finding believers in your area who wish

to observe the Sabbath as you do, please go to our website at TestEverything.net and click on the “Find

Others” button on the left.

Even if there is no one at this time in your area, make sure to put your name and e-mail in the area that

you are in. That way others who look in your area later on can find you. Remember, it is a day that is to

consist of a sacred assembly or holy convocation. So make it your goal to pursue that in obedience to the

Father. And the Lord willing, you’ll connect with someone in your area soon.

So, having said all this, just when is the Sabbath. A biblical day is actually sunset to sunset. Thus, the

Sabbath is from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night.

Some try to argue that no one really knows just which day of the week the 7th day Isaiah Thus, they

argue that we can now make any day the Sabbath since there is no way to really know the proper 7th

day. However, we know that Yeshua HAD to obey the commands of God in order to be sinless

according to God’s Law. It doesn’t take much study to realize that the First Century believers followed

Yeshua in observing Saturday as the Sabbath. And it was the Catholic church that later changed it over

to the first day of the week. Forcing all to abandon the 7th day Sabbath as was exemplified by the

disciples and those who came after. The mere fact that some point to Sunday, the first day of the week,

as being the “new” Sabbath because of the Resurrection, should be one more point that Saturday is the

7th day. There is truly little debate over this topic of the Sabbath.

There are a few that hold to what is called “the lunar Sabbath”. We’ll address that belief in a

completely different teaching.

Please also note, that if the Sabbath was of no matter to the Father after the resurrection, then why did

Yeshua tell His followers, who would be living in Judea in the end times, to pray that their flight would

not take place on the Sabbath. Why even refer to the Sabbath in a future event if it truly bore no

importance anymore. As it is, we see that it is important to the father today just as it was in the

beginning. It’s the sign that He has given us.

Ezekiel 20:12

Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made

them holy.

It’s the covenant that He has given us.

Exodus 31:16

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting

covenant.

Let us make it our desire to renew that covenant with the Father so the whole world will have no doubt

as to who we belong to.

Let us not forget that the Sabbath will be followed when Christ comes back. As it is referred to in

Isaiah...

Isaiah 66:23

From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and

bow down before me,” says the LORD.

In fact, Isaiah and Micah both show that the Law will be taught in that day. All of the law. That includes

the Sabbath. Compare...

Isaiah 2:3

Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house

of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will

go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Also in Micah 4:2)

Since the Law was followed before the cross and will obviously be followed after Yeshua’s return, does

it make any sense that the Father would have suspended the law in the middle?

In discussing this topic with a friend of mine once, he responded with the phrase “But it’s just not

convenient to go to church on Saturday or to observe it as such”.

Which, I could only think in my heart, “So now we’re serving God out of convenience and not

obedience.” I couldn’t help but think of the verse found in 1 Chronicles...

1 Chronicles 21:24

But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the

LORD what is yours, OR sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”

Do you serve God on your terms or His? Do you serve Him in convenience or obedience?

Let’s face it, observing the Sabbath is not a popular thing in a world that says we need to make one more

dollar... We need to have one more thing.

We live in such a fast paced society where stopping seems so foreign to us. But it’s truly for our benefit.

The Sabbath teaches us to be still before the Lord. To quiet our hearts and listen.

Many often ask what they should do for the Sabbath.

We can’t tell you what to do, nor would we try. But I can share what my family and I do in hopes that

you can get some ideas that may work for your family as well. Or spark some other ideas.

First, I have to confess that it was hard for my wife and I to get used to observing the Sabbath at the

beginning. Simply because we live in “Egypt” - if you will. We were simply used to living that lifestyle.

Fast paced. Always moving. Working for the weekend.

I remember when my family started observing the Sabbath. It was so foreign to us. We were simply so

used to going here and going there. Buying this, buying that. Doing chores around the house. Just, ...

doing what everybody else does.

In fact, the first couple of Sabbaths, after reading some and resting some, we found ourselves twiddling

our thumbs saying “what now?”

The mere fact that we struggled with it showed that we had been blending in all the time beforehand and

not being set apart.

It was truly proof that our lives had blended in with that of the world around us.

Yet now, we wouldn’t trade it for anything. Seriously. It’s the one day that is truly set aside.

Around our house on the Sabbath, we make it a tradition to sleep in. After we wake up, I always have a

Bible study with our children. Sometimes we even act out the stories that we read. Then, after we have

our Bible study, we almost always have coloring pages which relate to our Bible study that I print off for

us all to color. And yes, I color with them. Then we hang those pictures in our hallway as reminders of

what we learned.

Not much longer after that we head off to our fellowship, which meets in a friend’s house, for the

remainder of the day.

There are many things that you can do to make it a special day for you and your family. We pray that the

Father will help you as you do just that, make it special day. A day set apart unto Him.

As you do, others will think it’s strange that you go out of your way to not go to the store. That you

make it a day of rest, and not chores. That you make it a day ... set apart. And trust me when I say, when

it comes to observing the Sabbath, you will stand out in the eyes of others. But aren’t we supposed to do

that?

We hope you have enjoyed this study. Remember, continue to test everything.

Shalom!

We pray you have been blessed by this teaching. Remember, continue to test everything. Shalom! For

more on this and other teachings, please visit us at www.testeverything.net

Shalom, and may Yahweh bless you in walking in the whole Word of God.

EMAIL: Info@119ministries.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/119Ministries

WEBSITE: www.TestEverything.net & www.ExaminaloTodo.net

TWITTER: www.twitter.com/119Ministries#